14U LCAHL Championship Weekend

It was the 14U LCAHL Championship Weekend in Trenton.  We entered the tournament as a #3 seed on our side of the bracket.  This was a single elimination tournament so we needed to win to move on.  Our first game was at 1pm on Saturday against Little Caesar's Farmington Hills Black.  They beat us earlier in the season.  The team played really well and won the game 7-3 so we moved on to the semifinal game at 7pm.  Unfortunately, Will broke his stick during the game so we had to run to a local hockey shop to pick up a new one.  Our second game was against Traverse City.  They were an Yzerman team during the regular season (a division up from us) but were moved down for playoffs.  They beat us 5-1 a few weeks ago so we were anticipating a hard game.  We came out strong and ended up winning 8-3.  Will had two goals in that game.  It was such a great win for the boys and it put us in the Championship Game on Sunday morning.  Everyone booked hotels (we brought bags just in case) and tried to get some rest.  I had to run home for Winger but got up early the next morning to make it back for the final game.  The Championship game was against the Birmingham Rangers Red.  They were also an Yzerman team that was brought down for playoffs.  Their record was better than that of Traverse City and they also beat our red team earlier in the season.  They were a very fast team but we kept it tied 2-2 through the third period.  Then we went on to a sudden death overtime which was 3x3 for five minutes.  We were still tied 2-2 after overtime.  Then it went to a shootout and unfortunately, the Rangers won the game.  We are so proud of how the boys played and how far they came this season.  The rink in Trenton is cursed - this is Will's third time finishing as runner-up in a tournament:  2020 MAHA state runner-up, 2022 LCAHL Howe 2 runner-up, and now 2023 LCAHL Howe 1 runner-up.  It is hard to believe the season is almost over.  We just have a few more KWings practices and the team party.